聖約翰大教堂鳳凰展翅----中壢英文補習班－金學堂英語的部落格

【聯合報／By CAROL VOGEL／王麗娟譯】

Phoenixes Take Flight in a Cathedral

On a recent afternoon, a team was putting the final touches on a pair of monumental birds that had been hung in the majestic nave of the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine in the Morningside Heights neighborhood of Manhattan. As these phoenixes hovered some six meters above, their lights illuminated feathers fashioned from shovels, crowns made of hard hats and heads created from jackhammers.

In the middle of it all was Xu Bing, the internationally acclaimed Chinese artist . When asked about the birds’ placement — facing the carved bronze doors, as if poised to take flight — he said, through an interpreter, “If they faced toward the church,” referring to the altar, “it would have seemed too religious.”

Every Chinese dynasty has had its phoenixes. Representing luck, unity, power and prosperity, these mythological birds have mostly been benevolent, gentle creatures. But this pair, fashioned from the materials of commercial development, reflect the grimmer face of China today.

“They bear countless scars,” Mr. Xu explained, having “lived through great hardship, but still have self-respect. In general, the phoenix expresses unrealized hopes and dreams.”

A 59-year-old Conceptual artist who received a so-called genius grant from the MacArthur Foundation in 1999, Mr. Xu has seen firsthand China’s many transformations. During the Cultural Revolution, his father, a professor at Peking University, was banished from his position, and Mr. Xu was sent to the countryside. Some 13 years later, he moved to the United States, eventually settling in New York.

In 2008 he returned to China to become the vice president of the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing, China’s top art school.

The phoenix project started in 2008, when he was asked to create a sculpture for a building designed by the architect Cesar Pelli for the World Financial Center in Beijing.

“When I first visited the building site, I had a sense of shock,” Mr. Xu said . “It was impossible to imagine that with all the modern technology today, the building was constructed with such low-tech methods.” The poor working conditions for the migrant laborers , he said, “made my skin quiver.”

Mr. Xu had such a violent reaction to what he saw that he decided to make the phoenixes rise out of debris and workers’ tools that he salvaged from the construction site.

That was just before the financial crisis. It was also when there was a government ban on trucking and construction to ensure cleaner air during the Beijing Olympics. The building’s developers, afraid that the birds carried a message about waste, asked Mr. Xu if they could be dressed up . He declined, and the developers rejected them.

Mr. Xu forged ahead with the birds, which measure 27 meters and 30 meters long. They have been on view twice in China.

Judith Goldman, a writer and an independent curator, saw the phoenixes in Beijing. She decided they should be shown in the United States and contacted the cathedral, where they will be on view for about a year.

“This beautiful, even sacred installation has transformational powers,” said the Very Reverend Dr. James A. Kowalski, the dean of St. John the Divine. “This is not just a critique about laborers in China. It is about a subject that affects us all . It’s about fair pay and human wages for all people.”

中譯

最近的一個午后，一組人正為一對巨鳥做最後修飾，它們高掛在曼哈坦晨邊高地社區聖約翰大教堂雄偉的中殿中。一鳳一凰盤旋在離地六公尺處，閃爍著燈光的羽毛部分以鐵鏟砌成，冠部用的是安全帽，頭部用的則是氣錘。

站立在這一切中間的，是國際知名的大陸藝術家徐冰。被問到兩隻鳳凰的擺設，面朝青銅雕刻大門，彷彿蓄勢高飛，他透過翻譯說，「若是面向教堂」，他指的是朝向祭壇，「會有太濃的宗教意味」。

中國歷代各有自己形制的鳳凰。鳳凰象徵好運、團結、力量與繁榮，這些神話中的神鳥多為祥和之物。但這對以商業發展的材料砌成的鳳凰，反映的是現今大陸比較嚴峻的面孔。徐冰解釋道：「它們身上傷痕無數，經歷了極大的艱難困苦，但仍保有自尊。總的來說，鳳凰表達的是沒有實現的希望和夢想。」

徐冰現年59，是位概念藝術家，曾於1999年獲得麥克阿瑟基金會所謂天才獎，親身目擊大陸的許多轉變。文革期間徐冰在北京大學當教授的父親被逐出校園，徐冰則下放農村。約13年後他移居美國，最後定居紐約。

2008年他返回大陸，出任大陸最高藝術學府北京「中央美術學院」副院長。

鳳凰計畫始於2008年，當時有人請他替建築師西沙‧佩利設計的北京環球金融中心的建築創作一座雕塑。

徐冰說：「我第一次參觀建築工地時大受震撼。很難想像，在現代技術如此發達的今天，這個建築竟是以如此低技術的方法建造。」他說，那些民工的工作環境差到「讓我起雞皮疙瘩」。

徐冰對眼前所見反應如此劇烈，於是決定讓兩隻鳳凰從他撿拾自工地的瓦礫和工人的工具中升起。

那是金融海嘯發生前不久的事。當時政府也禁止卡車運輸與施工，以確保北京奧運期間空氣乾淨些。建築開發商擔心兩隻鳳凰傳遞的是廢物的訊息，向徐冰探詢能否加以美化。徐冰不肯，開發商於是打消了這個案子。

徐冰還是繼續打造兩隻鳳凰，各為27公尺與30公尺長，兩度在大陸展出。

作家兼獨立策展人茱迪思‧戈德曼在北京看見這對鳳凰。她決定應該讓它們在紐約展出並與教堂洽商。兩隻鳳凰將展出約一年。